I seized my gun and shot a rock rabbit, then collecting some fuel, I kindled a fire, and roasted the little animal, which afforded me a no very savory breakfast. I then waited patiently in the hope that some timely help would deliver me from my dreary situation.
It was about noon. I heard a monotonous short cry. With joy I recognized the well-known sound. I climbed up the nearest rock, and looking down into a hollow, I perceived two Indians whom I had seen the day before, driving their llamas to the nearest mine works. I prevailed on them, by the gift of a little tobacco, to let me have one of their llamas to carry my luggage, and having strewed a few handfuls of earth on the corpse of the murdered man, I departed. The scene of the incidents above described was the Cave of Leñas, in the Altos which lead southward to the Quebrada of Huaitara.
[Footnote 70: A mine is said to be in _boya_ when it yields an unusually abundant supply of metal. Owing to the great number of mines in Cerro de Pasco, some of them are always in this prolific state. There are times when the _boyas_ bring such an influx of miners to Cerro de Pasco that the population is augmented to double or triple its ordinary amount.]
[Footnote 71: Huachacas are the portions of ore which are distributed among the Indians at the time of the _boyas_, instead of their wages being paid in money.]
[Footnote 72: A shop in which chicha, brandy, &c., are vended.]
[Footnote 73: The date of Salcedo's death was May, 1669.]
[Footnote 74: Ninacaca is 12,853 feet, and Carhuamayo 13,087 feet above the sea level.]
[Footnote 75: It is also called the Laguna de Reyes, and the Laguna de Junin.]
The Sierra--Its Climate and Productions--Inhabitants--Trade--Eggs circulated as money--Mestizos in the Sierra--Their Idleness and Love of Gaming and Betting--Agriculture--The Quinua Plant, a substitute for Potatoes--Growth of Vegetables and Fruits in the Sierra--Rural Festivals at the Seasons of Sowing and Reaping--Skill of the Indians in various Handicrafts--Excess of Brandy-Drinking--Chicha--Disgusting mode of making it--Festivals of Saints--Dances and Bull-Fights--Celebration of Christmas-Day, New-Year's Day, Palm Sunday, and Good Friday--Contributions levied on the Indians--Tardy and Irregular Transmission of Letters--Trade in Mules--General Style of Building in the Towns and Villages of the Sierra--Ceja de la Montaña.